Tag: Politics
Travels in the ‘Real Iran’
by Eric Weiner | 06.19.09 | 10:22 AM ET
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj On the intersection of place, politics and culture
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Yahoo! BuzzTen Inspirational Women Travelers
by Julia Ross | 06.18.09 | 10:13 AM ET
Julia Ross celebrates women who have blazed their own trails
Battle Over the Elgin Marbles Rages On
by Eva Holland | 06.16.09 | 1:08 PM ET
We blogged about one writer’s sneak peek at the New Acropolis Museum last summer, and now opening day has finally arrived—predictably, not without controversy.
The museum was designed both to pressure Britain for the return of the Elgin Marbles, and to provide a worthy home for them after their (eventual, theoretical) return. With that context in mind, it’s no surprise that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the director of the British Museum—where the marbles are currently held—have all declined invitations to the grand opening on Saturday.
Political Iran on Film
by Eva Holland | 06.16.09 | 10:32 AM ET
Foreign Policy has a timely list of movies “that have stirred the country’s politics over the years.” The selections span four decades, from the Shah’s day to the present, and could be great fodder for some armchair traveling—for this week, probably the only sort of travel that’s advisable to Iran.
Iran: Through the Eyes of Travelers
by Eva Holland | 06.15.09 | 6:07 PM ET
I’ve spent the last couple days transfixed by events in Iran, where widespread protests and bursts of violence have followed a contested election result. The country’s hardly an American tourism hot spot (and this latest unrest won’t help on that front) but over the years, we’ve covered some travel-related Iranian ground. Here’s a look back:
Uighur Tourism in Bermuda?
by Eva Holland | 06.15.09 | 1:29 PM ET
Over at Jaunted, Victor Ozols “speculates recklessly” about whether the island’s acceptance of four Gitmo inmates could help its tourism profile. Hey, if ex-detainees keep on landing in island paradises, I’d happily plan a thematic world tour.
Photo We Love: Iran’s Controversial Election
by Jim Benning | 06.15.09 | 1:16 PM ET
REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah Twitter is abuzz with news of a rally in Tehran today in support of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. (You go, persiankiwi.) I loved this photo taken a few days ago in Tehran, before the election, of one of Mousavi’s supporters.
Truman and Khrushchev: Gone to Look for America
by Michael Yessis | 06.15.09 | 11:16 AM ET
Some Cold War travel memories bubbled up this weekend in the Washington Post. Christopher Buckley favorably reviews Matthew Algeo’s Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure, a chronicle of Truman’s post-presidency road trip in the summer of 1953. And Peter Carlson follows the journey of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who accepted an invite from President Eisenhower to “road trip through the wonderland of ’50s America.”
Should Air Travelers Help Pay for the Poor’s Climate Change Woes?
by Joanna Kakissis | 06.10.09 | 3:16 PM ET
It’s been a vexing question since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed that air travel is the world’s fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Some 16,000 commercial jet aircraft produce more than 700 million tons of CO2 every year, the IPCC says. Though air travel accounts for between two and four percent of global warming attributed to human activities, that amount is expected to grow to 15 percent in 50 years.
Meanwhile, 45 million people are starving or malnourished because of climate change-spurred droughts, floods and other natural disasters. The Global Humanitarian Forum, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, says 300,000 people a year die because of climate change and that number will reach 500,000 annually by 2030. As negotiators prepare for a major climate summit in Copenhagen this December, they are also trying to figure out how developed countries (who produce the bulk of carbon emissions) can help save developing countries (who are suffering the most because of global warming). Taxing air travel is a favorite idea.
Signs of Shrinking Vacation Syndrome on Capitol Hill
by Eva Holland | 06.10.09 | 12:45 PM ET
Even our elected representatives aren’t immune—and at least one of them isn’t happy about it. Senator Chuck Grassley told President Obama how he feels in a colorful tweet on Sunday:
Finding Trouble in Asia: Let Us Count the Ways
by Julia Ross | 06.09.09 | 4:31 PM ET
Is it me, or has it been a surreal few months for Americans in Asia? Guidebook writers and State Department travel monitors, take note: a few new travel “don’ts” have entered the lexicon. To recap, here’s what we know not to do next time we journey East.
Travel Writing as a Political Act
by Robert Reid | 06.02.09 | 10:39 AM ET
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco Lonely Planet writer Robert Reid explores the role of travel writers in a complex world
Hawaii Passes Islam Day Resolution, Haters Call for Boycott
by Pam Mandel | 05.19.09 | 3:44 PM ET
High on the list of reasons I lost my heart so completely to Hawaii?
The diversity. You’ve got your Pinoys, your Japanese, your mainland surfers, your Native Hawaiians, your Portuguese and Spaniards, the descendants of European shippers and missionaries, a whole mess of “hapa” types who are half one thing, half something else, be it Scottish, Korean, Hawaiian, Jewish ... If you’re looking for a slice of world culture, you’re as likely to find it in Hawaii as anywhere. All those cultures make for a lively and appealing place.
But a few spoilsports are calling for a boycott of travel to the islands because the Hawaii state Legislature recently passed a resolution recognizing “Islam Day.”
Interview with Rick Steves: ‘Travel as a Political Act’
by Jim Benning | 05.13.09 | 2:33 PM ET
Jim Benning asks the Europe travel guru about his new book -- and where Americans can go for a politically eye-opening experience
Interview with Kelly Westhoff and Jen Paulus: CheSpotting.com
by Eva Holland | 05.08.09 | 11:43 AM ET
REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas Eva Holland talks Che and the meaning of his ubiquitous image with the founders of a new travel photography site
Things I Didn’t Know About the Dalai Lama
by Julia Ross | 05.05.09 | 1:25 PM ET
I dropped by a lively discussion last night on all things Dalai Lama, by World Hum contributors Eric Weiner and Pico Iyer, and learned a few things about His Holiness’s travel habits: he always flies business class; is addicted to the BBC World service and feels out of sorts when he can’t tune in; and prefers to spend his downtime on trips visiting local high schools.
Interview with Newley Purnell: On Bangkok’s Political Crisis and Travel to Thailand
by Julia Ross | 04.20.09 | 5:04 PM ET
Bangkok is still reeling from the violent “red shirt” protests that swept the city last week. Though protesters surrendered to the government on Tuesday, an assassination attempt against a prominent protest leader on Friday kept Thais on edge. Several countries, including Britain, Australia and China, issued warnings against travel to Thailand last week, and a state of emergency remains in effect.
I emailed Bangkok-based journalist and World Hum contributor Newley Purnell to get his take on the situation and its impact on local tourism.
Jamie Oliver to G20 World Leaders: You’ll Eat British and Like It!
by David Farley | 04.02.09 | 4:13 PM ET
In the 1970s and ’80s, Great Britain had a reputation for bad teeth and even worse food (I wonder if there’s a connection?). Dentists were finally imported from parts of the erstwhile empire while British chefs began looking outside Britain for influences. They found it in France, the Mediterranean and even Southeast Asia. The results, however, were anything but British. Nonetheless, it helped bring England out of its culinary cellar. Five years ago, Gourmet magazine proclaimed London to be the best food city on the planet. This wasn’t a surprise to those who had been paying attention to global dining trends, but most people were caught unaware of London’s “new” prowess in the dining sphere.
Chinese Tourists Deluge Taiwan
by Julia Ross | 04.02.09 | 10:13 AM ET
It got off to a slow start, but a long-awaited travel agreement between China and Taiwan, forged last summer, has finally yielded a huge bump in mainland tourists traveling to the island.
Clockwatching in Western China
by Julia Ross | 04.01.09 | 12:44 PM ET
If you’re traveling in Kashgar, China, over the summer, don’t be surprised if the sun sets at 11 p.m. That’s because the old Silk Road city—like all of China—is required to follow the clock in Beijing, some 2,000 miles east. Aside from throwing circadian rhythms out of whack, the policy has exposed political fault lines in the region: the minority Muslim Uighurs, resentful of Chinese suppression of their culture, insist on setting their own clocks, two hours earlier.